Rohingya smugglers nabbed after bodies found

Two Thai nationals were apprehended on Friday in Phetchaburi in connection with the smuggling of 26 Rohingya.
The arrests were made hours after a group of 10 Rohingya, eight men and two women, were discovered near a temple in Lang Suan district of Chumphon on Thursday. A Buddhist monk heard their cries for help, checked on them, and alerted the police after finding two dead bodies.
According to an initial investigation, the 10 were among 26 Rohingya who were transported in a pickup truck from Tak’s Mae Sot district to Songkhla, en route to Malaysia. The smugglers reportedly found two of them dead and decided to abandon them along with the eight others who were exhausted.
Pol Col Chalard Palanakarn, chief of Lang Suan police station, said that authorities gathered evidence that led to warrants for three suspects involved in the smuggling operation.
Two suspects were apprehended in Phetchaburi, and officers seized two modified pickup trucks as part of the investigation. Forensic evidence was collected from the vehicles, and a manhunt is ongoing for a third suspect.
Pol Col Chalard said the investigation is expanding to explore potential connections to human trafficking rings.
Police reported that all 26 Rohingya were picked up in Mae Sot on Monday before being transported to Songkhla. To evade police detection, multiple vehicles were used in the operation, including a lead car to scout for checkpoints.
Upon their arrival in Lang Suan, some were found dead while others were too exhausted to continue. The smugglers abandoned the group and proceeded with the remaining passengers.
Villagers in the area noticed a pickup truck, assuming it was delivering goods. Police then inspected the scene and found water bottles and tyre marks.
An interpreter told police that the truck originally carried 26 people, all part of a larger group of Rohingya who had travelled from Rakhine state in Myanmar to Tak, with many left behind in Mae Sot due to their inability to pay for transportation.